Encro trial in Brussels: 14, 15 and 17 years in prison for cocaine network leaders
Brussels criminal court handed down 119 convictions in the Encro case, including sentences of 14 to 17 years for the three leaders of the network.
Heavy sentences for Encro network heads: up to 17 years in prison
Brussels criminal court delivered its verdict in the Encro case, one of the largest drug trafficking files ever investigated in Belgium. According to RTBF, 119 convictions were handed down in total, with sentences ranging up to 17 years in prison for the main leaders of the organisation. The judges also ordered confiscations totalling around 60 million euros, not counting bail held in legal custody.
The trial was held in Brussels from December 2023 to May 2024. More than 120 people — men and women — were tried, along with four companies suspected of serving as a cover for illegal activities. About twenty defendants attended the judgment in handcuffs at Justitia, the former NATO headquarters converted into a courtroom for high-security trials.
The three leading figures convicted
Eridan Munoz Guerrero, a 51-year-old Albanian presented as the brains behind the network, was sentenced to 14 years in prison and a confiscation equivalent to 20 million euros. From the first hearing, he had admitted the facts: "I was at the head of a criminal organisation, I participated in drug trafficking. I played and I lost." The public prosecutor had requested 19 years in total — 15 years for leading a criminal organisation, plus additional sentences for possession of prohibited weapons and unlawful detention of a co-defendant. His lawyer, Nathalie Gallant, had pleaded for leniency, arguing that her client had collaborated with the justice system and that he himself had been tortured after a loss of goods, which, she argued, demonstrated that he answered to hierarchically superior third parties.
Abdelwahab Guerni, a 57-year-old Algerian and number two in the organisation, received the heaviest sentence: 17 years in prison and a confiscation of 15 million euros. He was prosecuted for importing narcotics from Latin America and managing the network's logistics. At the final hearing on 7 May, he partially admitted guilt: "It was I who brought everyone here," he conceded, before apologising to his co-defendants. The man who dreamed of becoming a professional footballer experienced his first arrest at 19 and spoke of "40 years of criminality." The federal prosecutor had requested 20 years; the defence, which described him as a mere intermediary obeying orders from Eridan M.G., had sought between 10 and 15 years.
Bilal I., a 35-year-old from Brussels, was sentenced to 15 years in prison and a confiscation of three million euros. Recognised as one of the main leaders of the organisation, he was responsible for the importation of large quantities of cocaine from South America, subsequently resold to Eridan M.G.. The prosecutor had requested 20 years in prison and a confiscation of 10 million euros. The defence had primarily pleaded inadmissibility of the proceedings, and in the alternative, acquittal. The prosecutor also requested the immediate arrest of Bilal I., who was appearing under electronic monitoring; the measure was contested by his lawyers.
A police officer among the convicted
A police officer from the Brussels-Midi zone is also among the convicted. Prosecuted for having transmitted information from police databases to members of the network, he was sentenced to five years in prison, two of which were suspended, as well as a confiscation equivalent to 10,000 euros.
700 years of prison combined, some acquittals too
In total, the court handed down approximately 700 years of combined prison sentences. Individual sentences ranged from 14 months to more than ten years for dozens of convicts other than the leaders. Some suspects were also acquitted.
Antwerp port as the entry point
The Encro case takes its name from the encrypted messaging services Encrochat and Sky ECC, widely used by drug traffickers, the decryption of which formed the main basis of the investigation. Some defendants used them under multiple pseudonyms. The network was dismantled in 2021-2022 by Belgian police, in collaboration with Italian and German authorities.
The drugs — cocaine and cannabis — were transported in containers from South America and Morocco, mainly via Antwerp port, Europe's primary entry point for cocaine, but also through those of Rotterdam, Hamburg and Le Havre. The defendants displayed diverse nationalities: Albanian, Colombian, Belgian, Kosovar, Ukrainian and North African, among others.
This case, described as a "328-box procedure" by Belgian authorities due to its scale, is considered one of the most significant ever handled in the country in terms of international drug trafficking.
Source: RTBF